Ferrari certainly makes some of the world’s most spectacular automotive machinery.

But No Ferrari Will Be Pure Electric

And its latest extreme hypercar, the LaFerrari, is on the cutting-edge of hybrid technology.

So, is an electric vehicle to follow?

Absolutely not, says Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

Just days ago, di Montezemolo made it clear that Ferrari will never manufacture a vehicle without a gasoline engine. At least not while he’s still at the helm.

“We will never manufacture an electric car as long as I’m chairman.”

That doesn’t rule out a plug-in hybrid Ferrari, perhaps similar to the McLaren P1, but a pure electric Ferrari ain’t coming anytime soon. Looks like Tesla’s competition in the high-end, ultra-performance electric category will be incredibly slim.

It seems hard to imagine that if a magical battery comes along, combined with software driven selectable engine audio, that Ferrari would not seriously consider an electric car. It’s not as though Ferrari is always pure V12, or pure anything. They have made some strange things in the past under Enzo’s DNA.

But then, Fiat owns Ferrari (?), and Maserati has been dismissive of electric cars. It makes me wonder whether Italy has a national capability deficiency in high performance electric powertrains.

Perhaps the Italian prestige brands look more to bio fuel for their future performance cars. Or they still think the earth is flat and centred on Rome.

Not throwing stones, as we in Australia are without a credible production capable organic electric powertrain capability. The last electric motor manufacturer died years ago. Assembling Camry Hybrids doesn’t count.

Ferraris are beautiful cars, I always get stopped in my tracks passing one, but they are really falling behind in drivetrain technology. The fact that Porsche and McClarin both have plug in supercars on pre-sale and Ferrari is only just talking about a mild hybrid, is sad. Audi has also tested the engineering waters with the E-tron.

An inevitable doubling of battery capacity in the next 5 – 7 years could leave them producing the slowest cars in the class. If you compare the power curves of an electric motor and an ICE, it seems obvious that a dual drivetrain would be the ultimate in performance, but maybe not in cost and complexity.

the only aspect this comment with the added disclaimer “while i am the chairman” portrays is he has given up on the company and may be on the entire super car segment. All he is saying is sorry I cannot set a path for this company to follow for next 50 years, I just don’t understand this world anymore, but till the time this board allows me to earn the multi millions I will keep following my old ways. What a pathetic approach to leading a famous company.